Attractive people 'tend to be self-promoting and conformist'

Those who are blessed in the looks department are lacking in other areas of their personality, as attractive people tend to be self-promoting and conformist, a study suggests.

In a warning not to judge a book by its cover these findings put an end to the stereotype that "what is beautiful is good."

Instead, physically attractive people tend to be less independent and tolerant than those less blessed with good looks.

Psychologists set out to find out if attractive people really have attractive traits and values noting it was difficult to resist the temptation of assuming that a person's outward appearance reflects something meaningful about his or her inner personality.

Research showed that people tend to perceive attractive adults as more social, successful, and well-adjusted than less attractive adults - a phenomenon dubbed "what is beautiful is good" or "the halo effect" whereby we see a "halo" of good qualities around attractive people.

It tested the theory outside observers would perceive attractive women as more likely to have socially desirable personality traits than less attractive women, the Daily mail reported.

Specifically they would judge attractive women to be more agreeable, extrovert, conscientious, open to experiences, and emotionally stable than less attractive women.

But the team hypothesised that no such correlation would be found between women's attractiveness and their perceived values, since judgments about what constitutes a "good" value are likely to vary from observer to observer.

The study is published in the Journal Psychological Science.

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